Note: I know, I know ... I took such a horribly long time to end the story. (Guilty grin). I had several career shifts, a computer breakdown, and a punishing schedule to contend with ... my goal for the past year was just to survive. ;) Thank God I have some room to breathe now! So here's the final chapter of Tangled! Hope it's good. :)
Chapter Fourteen
"So I killed him. Big deal."
His rage was so great that he pulled the trigger without thinking. And his heart stopped the moment the sound of the gunshot richoceted around the deserted neighbourhood. Because he realised then that he didn't want to do it. He didn't want Tony to die. Because in some twisted part of him, Tony was still his best friend.
Tony opened his eyes in shock. He was quivering in terror, but he looked more surprised than horrified – because the shot had missed him.
"You missed," he said in shock.
Danny lowered the gun to his side. He couldn't do it.
His breath came in gasps. He couldn't do it. His father was dead, killed by this bastard, and he couldn't do it.
"I knew you wouldn't do it."
The punch caught him by surprise. He lay on the ground, with his lip cut and bleeding, and when he looked up, Tony was pointing the gun at him.
"Like father, like son, huh? He stared at me the same way when I pointed the gun at him."
Danny roared in rage when Tony said that. This time he didn't care if he lived or died – he lunged at Tony, and tackled him to the ground. But Tony was always the best wrestler and fighter – he cold coked him with the gun.
He fell to the ground, stunned, and heard the gun being readied.
"Sorry, Danny. Really. But ... I need to do this."
He looked up and stared at the gun. And he thought about how the boys would talk about this over pizza, like it was the funniest thing in the world. Danny Messer was a wuss. He just stared like a retard when he was shot down like a rat.
The wind began to blow furiously, as if anticipating his downfall. The rickety clothes line next to them, made up by a couple of wires nailed to two barely-standing rotting wooden polls began to shake.
He stared at Tony, at the kid that he had shared late night suppers with at Denny's, who had eaten his mother's pumpkin pie every Thanksgiving, and who had stayed over at his place when his pop was drunk again. And he wondered how this neighbourhood could twist a man.
"Goodbye, Messer." And Tony aimed. He closed his eyes.
There was a loud sound, but it wasn't a gunshot. It sounded like a metallic shriek and something wooden breaking. He heard Tony scream.
Danny opened his eyes and saw that the wire from the clothesline had somehow managed to wrap itself around Tony's face, blinding him. The wooden poles of the clothesline, now without the support of the wires, rocked crazily in the churning wind. Danny stared in fascination as Tony struggled against the wires entangled around his head.
"Damn it!" Tony yelled as he finally removed the wires from his face. "Stupid wir-"
And the wooden pole finally came off its flimsy holding place and flew across the air ...and it smacked Tony right across the face.
Tony let out a surprised grunt and fell back.
And continued falling.
All that was left was Tony's fading scream. And then a sickening thump at the end of it.
He stared at the empty space where Tony had been as the furious wind began picking up speed around him. The remaining pole jittered wildly at its spot, but he toyed with fate and went to the edge, looking over to see what lay on the street below.
It was Tony, his body bent in an inhuman shape. The wires were still entangled around him, and the wooden pole that had sent him to his death lay next to him.
"Danny?"
Danny jerked in surprise when Flack called out his name. Carefully, he took his eyes away from the window and looked at Flack. He hoped that his expression didn't convey the grief he felt at recalling that memory.
"Hey, you okay?" the detective asked, frowning.
Well, looks like it didn't work that well. He had always been a lousy liar.
He blinked to get rid of Tony's blood-streaked face from his mind. Then, forcibly, he smiled.
"Yeah, I'm okay, just wondering when the hell I'm getting out of here," he replied and then patted the duffel bag beside him on the bed. "I'm ready to go."
"Cool. Aiden and some nurse is getting a wheelchair to your room as we speak," he said with a big smile. "Time to bust this joint."
When he heard the word "wheelchair", Danny groaned.
"Must we do it in a wheelchair?" he complained.
A few minutes later, after having the nurse – a burly guy called Bob – practically carry him to the wheelchair despite his vehement protests, he was sitting in the wheelchair watching Aiden fussing over his duffel bag.
Another stupid hospital regulation that he didn't need. That he had to be pushed out of the hospital in a wheelchair.
"I can walk," he complained for perhaps the hundreth time.
"Quit whining, Messer. And enjoy the sympathy from the ladies," said Flack with a grin.
"He gets no sympathy from me," called Aiden who was busy rearranging his things in his duffel bag.
"And I don't see no ladies around," Danny muttered, feeling miffed that people are still making decisions for him.
Aiden threw him a look. "If you weren't sick, I'd give you one, Messer."
Danny had an insane urge to stick out his tongue at her. He managed to resist it to give her a glare for manhandling his duffel bag.
"Must you do that? I packed it nicely already," Danny protested as he watched Aiden folding his shirt and carefully placing it in the bag.
"You call balling up your shirts up and tossing it in packing?" Aiden commented wryly.
"Yeah," Danny replied defensively.
"That's why you need me, Messer," Aiden said with a smirk as she closed the duffel bag.
"Bah humbug," Danny muttered. But he couldn't help but smile at the whole scene: Aiden doing some housekeeping for him. He should've brought a camera.
"By the way, you've got quite a welcoming committee outside," Flack said as he sat down on his bed. Former bed, thank you very much.
Danny perked up immediately. "Really?"
"Yeah, really, Danny," said Aiden as she came to his side. "Didn't know you had so many fans, Messer."
"Fans?" he asked, puzzled.
"Yeah, fans. Makes me wonder what you've been doing after office hours," she said wryly.
"Does she sound jealous to you, Flack?" he tried to look around to where Flack was.
"Yeah, you know, come to think of it–" Flack began.
Aiden gave Flack a light slap on the shoulder. He chuckled.
It took a week of observation before they would release him. Aiden mused that it would've been longer, but because Danny drove the nurses and Dr Ferell up the wall with his constant protest that "I'm fine, and I don't need anyone checking up on me every five minutes", they relented and released him early.
When they got to the lobby, Danny got a good look at the 'welcoming committee'. It was Shannon, decked in the perfect summer outfit – tank top and micro shorts, holding a big, colourful sign that said: "Welcome back, Danny!" She was flanked by two of her friends – persumably – all decked out in their summer best. One, a brunnette, gave him a wink.
"What did you say Shannon did again?" Flack asked with a transfixed look on his face.
"Uh ... She is a dancer. At a broadway show. Chicago, I think."
"That means little black outfits," Flack said dreamily.
Aiden, totally ignored by then, rolled her eyes and slapped Flack on the arm. "Grow up. Come on, we gotta get Danny into the car."
"Yeah, she's definitely jealous," Flack said under his breath. Danny chuckled.
"Shut up," Aiden replied. She rolled her eyes and began pushing the wheelchair towards Danny's "welcoming party".
Danny could only smile at his friends' antics. And when Shannon and her friends surrounded them, his smile grew bigger.
"Oh, wow. You look so much better," Shannon cooed, her blue eyes sparkling. "I had the worst luck. You were asleep each time I came to see you."
"He isn't asleep now," said the brunette, flashing him a gorgeous smile.
"He's cute," said the redhead in a heavy Australian accent. The girls giggled. Flack flashed them a broad grin while Danny fidgeted in his seat and gave them an uncomfortable smile.
"So, this is Tanya," Shannon pointed to the Australian girl. Tanya waved. "And this Shona," this time the brunette smiled.
"Hope you don't mind, but I got my friends to come help out. We had a break in our rehearsals, so they said they'll come along to help," she said.
Help do what? Mop his brow? Aiden thought sardonically.
Aiden cleared her throat. "So ..." she began.
Shannon's blue eyes widened as if she just remembered something. "Oh, right, the car! The girls and I have been taking care of your apartment while you were away. I hope you don't mind, but we did a little cleaning. Mitzi is driving the car around the bend as we speak!"
"Oh, er ... thanks," Danny said awkwardly.
Just then, a station wagon stopped in front of them.
"Hello!" the girl inside called. She was a blonde with the brightest most beautiful smile Danny had ever seen. He made a conscious effort to close his mouth.
"This has got to be a dream. I must be in a coma," Danny whispered under his breath.
"Here's Mitzi!" Shannon squealed. "She's Swedish, and the only word she can say is 'hello', but we make do."
"Hello!" Mitzi called again, waving happilly.
"Can I go with them?" Flack asked Aiden in a small voice.
Before Aiden could answer, Shannon excitedly gestured her friends over to Danny's wheelchair. As one, they surrounded him. Shannon practically elbowed Aiden away from the handles and quickly wheeled him away.
"We'll take over from here, Audrey! Thanks!" Shannon called out. The last thing Aiden and Flack saw before Dannydissapeared in the cover of girls was his confused expression.
Aiden blinked, then called out: "It's Aiden!"
"You think he's going to be okay?" Flack wondered out loud.
Aiden snorted at that. "With the Baywatch beauties? I don't doubt it."
"Nah. I think he needs help. See ya!" Flack gave her a wink and followed after the wheelchair.
Aiden was left standing alone, speechless, at the entrance of the hospital for a while. Then Danny called out: "Hey, you comin':
She smiled and began marching towards them. "I'll take the wheel!" she called out.
Danny sighed and stared out his apartment window. He was strangely glad to be staring at the brick walls of the neighbouring apartment complex instead of the bright blue sky which was his view for the past few weeks in the hospital room.
The crowd finally left ... after having Shannon make him practically promise that he'll be available for a date tomorrow, that is. More like she's coming over to fix him something. Flack was having some success with Mitzi, who learnt two new words: "Date" and "Yes".
Not that he didn't appreciate their company, but their energetic presence was draining him a little, and he wasn't sure how long he could keep smiling.
And Aiden ...
"Hey, I've heated your dinner. Straight from Papa's Deli," she said from the kitchen.
"Thanks, Aid," he called out over his shoulder.
He heard Aiden's footsteps and looked up just in time to see her sitting on the couch next to his.
"You sure you're going to be okay?" she asked.
"Yeah," he nodded. "Food's in the microwave and I can walk around. I'm fine," he stressed.
Aiden smiled at his exasperated tone. "Mac and Stella really wanted to come over, but they were called away at a scene at the last moment. But they'll probably be coming over tomorrow or something to bug you."
He smiled at that. Funny to know that there were people who were ... concerned about him. Though he still didn't know how to deal with all that fussing he got from them. Still, it was good that he and Mac were okay again.
Seeing him smile, Aiden patted him on the knee and got up.
"Hey, Aiden?" he called just as she was taking her bag from the dining table.
"Yeah?" she turned around as she donned her light coat.
"Thanks. For everything. Especially that night ... you know ... with the whole, er, crying thing," he said awkwardly. He was probably beet red now. He cleared his throat.
Aiden came over to where he was and kissed him on the cheek.
"What are friends for, you know?" she said softly.
He nodded and shrugged. She just patted him on the shoulder again. When he heard the front door close, he said under his breath, "Just friends?"
Silence greeted him. Danny sat like that for a while, staring out the window, then he began remembering again ...
"Do you think he did it?"
"Who, my son?" said the voice from the other side.
"Did you think ... did you think God killed Tony for me?"
A heavy silence, then: "My son, you know that God does not desire any to perish but all to have everlasting life."
Danny merely stared at the door of his confessional booth. He felt numb. It had been a tough day. The nosy detective who had made his life hell for the past few weeks just came over to tell him that he's been cleared of all charges. It was an accident. A very unfortunate accident – that's how Tony died. The detective didn't really look convinced. Heck, Danny didn't want to believe him either. For the first time in a long time, a cop actually believed him. Not the detective, obviously, but some cop somewhere.
"I didn't try save him."
"Tony?" asked Father Casavlas.
"I just stared," he whispered. "Then he fell. And you know what's the fucked up thing? He killed my dad. And I still want to save him. I feel guilty,"he spat the word out like a curse. "I feel guilty because Tony died. It's all fucked up."
He buried his face in his hands. A tear slid down his cheek and he brushed it aside brusquely.
Father Casavlas stayed respectively silent for a while, almost as if he could sense that Danny was trying to bring himself together.
"Danny ... you're different from the rest of the boys. Your father wanted you to have a different life. A different life from his life ... and he sacrificed a lot to ensure that. You're different. Don't let nobody tell you any different," Father Casavlas murmmured.
"That's what my dad said too," he said softly.
"You know what's weird, Father?" Danny said after a moment of silence. "I got word from NYU today. They're giving me a scholarship."
"My God, Danny!" Father Casavlas sounded delighted.
"It's stupid, you know. I applied for that scholarship just to spite my dad, to prove that I can't go anywhere. I had this big plan to show him that rejection letter and tell him that he was crazy to even ask me to go to college. And then ... here it is. God is a funny guy."
"Uh-hmm."
"Almost as if he took everyone who will hold me back," he said bitterly. "Dad ... then Tony. And then pushed me out the door to a whole new chapter in my life."
"Danny, that's not -"
"I don't know what to think anymore," he hissed. He got up quickly, nearly tore open the door from its hinges in his haste to get out. He could hear Father Casavlas coming out from his booth, could feel his eyes on him.
He was alone in the world. Cut off now. A clean slate. That was the only way he could get out of his Dad's Tanglewood shadow.
And for his dad ... he will take this chance.
Danny closed his eyes at that memory. He remembered how he accepted that scholarship, and how he studied like a dog to make sure he got through, and how he ended being a cop – a Tanglewood's son, a cop! He did it to spite them all.
And, here he was.
He smiled to himself.
Funny how an illness made him remember how he got to where he was. After Menhaus, everything was a blur. He forgot why he was a cop, or why he even tried so hard.
He remembered now.
"It's for you, pop," he murmmured. And a small smile appeared on Danny Messer's face.
With that, Danny got up to sample Aiden's heating skills.
THE END
End note: Wow. I actually completed a story. Hee. To be honest, I was a little nervous when I read how some reviewers wondered whether I'd have a big reveal about Danny's past. It was never my intention from the beginning to write a story about Danny's "connection with Tanglewood". This is mostly a fic to show the friendship Danny has with the other CSI, and also to illlustrate why he's a cop. I hope that I've done an okay job in that department. ;) Thanks for reading!